ME Supers are a dime a dozen on ebay but most will need the seals doing. MXs go for a bit more but are lovely cameras too, and have a few features the ME Super doesn't have although manual only. Both are lovely classics and the best two of the M-series cameras. The others (ME, MV, MV1 and MG) are all auto only and less useful than the MX and the ME Super. The ME-F is essentially the same as the ME Super but with focus confirmation. The only downside is it has a weak battery compartment cover (which seems to be a recurring theme in Pentax kit for some reason!)

Best wishes and have fun, Kris.

Rather worryingly, Harrow Technical's website has gone off line. Anyone know anything? Hopefully not a victim of the recession, they were excellent.

Thanks, Kris.

I would certainly keep it. I have an M42 bellows and have been keeping my eye out for a K-mount version. You got a real good deal there.

Best wishes, Kris.

I'll pop over sometime in the New Year if you like and you can try them out?

Back to the OP, the main problem in comparing them is that no-one ( has both so we all like the one we have, if you see what I mean! I am very happy with my new 12-24, but then I never tried the Sigma. I find that I rarely use it at 12mm, but I do often use it at about 14mm. Perhaps I should have got the DA 14mm prime instead or as well...

Cheers, Kris.

As the K20D is the top of the range at the moment I very much doubt anyone has one they want to part with. Try buying one new from SRS?

Some more photos for C and C, please.

First, some more of my leaf photos. All shot with the K10D and a Sigma 50mm macro lens.










View in the fog, DA 12-24mm at 14mm.




More detailed view... DA* 50-135mm, at 135mm




Finally, a cobweb contre jour. SMC-M 200mm F4.




Looking forward to your comments. Any I should post in my gallery?

Thanks, Kris.

Not really much point with the white card. The white/blue lights are direct and so wouldn't reflect off the white card anyway and your problem (and usually the problem with night shots) is that all the different electric lights have a different colour cast and will give different hues to different parts of the image. If you shoot RAW, you get the chance to change the light balance on the fly either in Lightroom in the develop module, or in ACR converter at the conversion stage in PS. I guess Silkypix and the like will all do the same.

One trick one could try (I haven't!) is to make two conversions, one which gives your white lights, and one which give better colour to the statues. You could make the first image the bottom layer, add the second image as the next layer, add a mask and reveal just the statues. Should work!

What I might have tried also is using a polariser to cut out some of the reflections in the glass.

Best wishes, Kris.

With the current dollar sterling exchange rate you won't get a bargain here (US) either I'm afraid. I bought my 50-135mm last Christmas when the exchange rate was $2:£1, it is now only about $1.5:£1. I doubt you'll do much better than SRS I'm afraid.

I agree. There is very little chance the lens will break but I will probably have a better chance on the insurance with "it dropped from a great height and broke" than "someone cleaned it for me..."

I was curious. Who was it who took their K10 into a shower...?

Best wishes, Kris.

I have spent the vast majority of my photographic career shooting photos by available light either because I am outdoors, or the interior I am photographing is huge, e.g. a cathedral.

Last weeks shoe competition had me pushing at the boundaries of my knowledge/experience. What I wanted to achieve was (a) moody dark romantic lighting for the majority of the scene but (b) the shoes in the foreground picked out sufficiently for them to be the focal point of the photo and fulfil the brief.

What I tried to do was (a) light the scene with the candles to get the moody dark feel but then (b) pick the shoes out with flash. The long exposure needed for the candlelight meant that I could fire off my flash by hand which in turn would trigger a small Pentax slave flash. I must admit to getting rather frustrated with the results. I made various crude snoots to prevent harsh shadows where I didn't want them, and not getting horrible raking light effects on the carpet was a pain too.

In the end I rather ran out of time and patience and had to finish the photo off by creating a mask in photoshop with very blurred edges and selectively lightening the shoes whilst darkening the background.

Given what I was trying to do, how would you recommend it was lit?

Thanks in advance, Kris.